1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to improvements in data transfer to and from aircraft computer systems, and more particularly pertains to new and improved interface circuitry between aircraft carried computer systems and a cellular communication link.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of downloading flight data information from an aircraft, it has been the practice to employ cellular infrastructure to transmit the downloaded data, acquired from avionics and various sensors within the aircraft, to a land-based receiver which then transmits the received data by way of the internet or standard telephone lines to a data reception storage and analysis unit. A system of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,990 granted Jun. 30, 2001 to John F. Grabowsky, et al. for Aircraft Flight Data Acquisition And Transmission System. The patent describes a system that starts communication between the aircraft and base station upon aircraft landing. The transmission of data between the aircraft and a cellular base station while the aircraft is still taxiing to the gate, is not seen as satisfactory in that interference with other aircraft equipment is still possible. This problem has been overcome by the present invention.